Arc Reactor: Exalting
by Aesix
Summary: ...I couldn't fight. That was something I, Jaune of Arc, wouldn't hesitate to admit. However, I wholeheartedly sought my dream of becoming a hero, which meant becoming a Huntsmen. To do that, I would need to... Wait WHAT! I can shoot laser beams, with my mind! Awesome! ...wait, totally "not-awesome," I don't have a beating heart - Pairing: Undecided


Inspired by: **Warframe** (not sure why honestly), **Iron-Man** (obviously)

* * *

 _Arc Reactor: Exalted_

...He couldn't fight like his sisters. All of whom were older, but their potential at his age far surpassed his. And he definitely couldn't fight like his parents or any other ancestors. He couldn't wield a sword, shield, or both; he couldn't be any kind of marksmen or fist-fighter. His body simply wasn't capable with it's base parameters.

But, he was smart. 'Brains for brawl' as people would say. Despite being a budding genius (although, lacking _some_ common sense), he lacked experience, naturally due to his meager age.

However, Jaune wanted to be a hero.

He didn't mind his weaknesses. Quite the opposite, in fact. He revered his sisters, parents and ancestors. He didn't falter in his path to becoming a hero. He used what he had. He memorized anything he was taught, books or not, beaten into him or not.

To be a [Hero], he would have to be a Hunter. To be a Hunter, he would need training, Aura and more training. Oh and _Dust_.

There was an undeniable fact that for technology to function, Dust was required. It was _the_ resource. It powered all. Ninety-percent of the world, if not more, wouldn't function. It was what defined the Hunters in their struggles in fighting the Grimm. It was launched, blasted, and characterized their weapons and/or phenomenons.

He then unlocked his Semblance (after his aura of course). He could bypass the limitation set with his own limit, of course. He didn't need Dust to make a natural or unnatural phenomenon, only a conductor, which could be the _air_ itself! However, it didn't change the fact that Dust was an amazing conductor, right alongside all its amazing qualities. However, he could use his own body (well, further than most people)! The possibilities—they were _endless_! Just the other day, he shot a beam of Aura! While it did burn his finger, slightly, his Aura healed it like it was nothing. It didn't help that his Aura reserves were _large_ , his family said so in eagerness, and the well was only growing at an exceeding rate.

 _Conductor_. That's what his parents called his Semblance—aura manipulation that surpassed simple manipulation. It powered itself. It defined itself. And it was he.

The problem was that he couldn't change the way he was physically, and he simply was too impatient to wait for his body to change naturally. But, what could he do? How could he change his body? Reinforce his aura? Control? So far, he was stuck trying to form anything else besides laser beams. ...Being a genius didn't mean he could instantly come out with new things! It didn't seem like he was getting anywhere, _ever_.

Then, it showed itself to him.

 _Atlas_.

Technology-wise, they were without any equal. They sought to lower the amount of sacrifices made from the today's heroes—the Hunters—with the usage of technology, robots, and, soon, cybernetic soldiers. The latter greatly appealed to him. It meant he or any person who desired to fight the Grimm could do so!

It was _exalting_.

It gave rise to his second dream.

Alongside his impatient attitude to his body, the thought of allow anyone to fight easily, safety, was, without a doubt, heroic. Heroes were those who protected the people, inspired hope and fought evil, like his ancestors, parents, and sooner or later, his sisters, who may or may not share his dream.

Combine his Semblance, he could power hi-tech armor, laser guns and all the boyish sci-fi dreams.

...

"—Oof!" Wondering in awe as he turned a corner, Jaune bumped into a girl, whose age didn't seem too far from his own, if at all. Platinum-blond, petite and pale, the regal girl's sapphire orbs stared into his apologetic own.

Promptly, he rose, "S-Sorry! I was lost and..." The boy rambled on before he stopped himself and outstretched his hand, "Uhm, Miss..?"

The girl reached out to Jaune's outstretched hand, almost reflexively, despite her timid deposition.

"I—" The female stopped herself, unsure whether her name would change the way the boy would treat her, as she rose. However, that was only if he hadn't already known who she was. Finally, recalling Jaune's words, the girl's expression seemed to brighten, losing her slight regret. "... _You don't know who I am_?" the Schnee heiress murmured to herself. "I'm Weiss. I apologize also; I shouldn't have been paying more attention."

"No need to worry over something like that. _A-Ah_ , right, I'm Jaune! Jaune Arc, it rolls off the tongue and the ladies love it." The male smiled, before scratching at the back of his head, undoing the "cool" attitude he was going for. "I'm kinda lost; It's my first time here, you see."

Weiss was still surprised that he didn't know who she was, even if he didn't live in Atlas. But, scratch that, she met an Arc of all people! They were, without a doubt, one of the greatest families as they produced heroes without fail. Today was the day her father was supposed to meet with them. She too wanted to meet them, explaining her rush.

"U-Uh, Snow Angel, you there?" A hand waved in front of her face.

Trying her best not to glare and flush in anger at the pet name, Weiss sighed internally. She had hoped he wasn't one of those haughty _boys_ , drunk on their family accomplishments. At least that's what the sudden nickname conveyed to her as her whole demeanor changed. "You're an Arc, right?"

"I said that, didn't I?" Jaune sent her a weird look.

The heiress walked forward, withholding the urge to lash out, "Aren't you supposed to be meeting with Ironwood, and the Schnee Company Head?"

" _Is that why we're here_?" Weiss heard from the supposed Arc whisper. "I mean, I was awed by the usage of technology here." Shrugging, the boy continued, falling in step beside her. "I dunno what Dad's doing here, but—"

He didn't trust his aim and couldn't make out the material of the oncoming projectile with a glance, so he threw himself at her, expanding his aura. A barrier of sorts formed to protect himself, Weiss, and the others of the street, while throwing them all from the site of impact.

"What are you doin— _ **!**_ "

The street besides them exploded. Everything splintering in every direction. Rumble, wood, asphalt, metal, people... Screams and shouts fell deaf as the pair flew, launched by their close distance to the projectile. Several other explosions followed, each seemingly following her. Then again, it sounded like each explosion was all around them, and the ringing of her ears certainly didn't help.

The heavy foot falls of soldiers, her private guard running towards them and the crowd running away deafened her, if the explosions haven't but Weiss took no notice.

Her blood ran cold, as they skidded, her back taking the brunt. It hurt—hurt enough that she gasped at each bounce—yet, she knew it compared not to the brunt the explosions he tanked for her. She then realized she couldn't see out of her left eye. The area around it burned. But again, Jaune's cost must've been worst.

"... _Jaune_?" Her voice was hoarse, dry, and tired as if she was screaming during the whole ordeal, which could've happened. Weiss couldn't remember. She was too busy staring at the boy.

His body left contact from her own—another explosion somewhere—landing a small distance away. However, his fall seemed harsher than hers, as he gasp for air, sputtering saliva and rag-dolled, full-bodied. The way his face landed and his head recoiled made her want to hurl. Something around him had _shattered_.

He groaned, _somehow_ , "I—, I'm still here," he tried to joke, only to cough, unpleasantly. The ground beside him stained red. "You okay? I wasn't sure if you had unlocked aura..." His arms failed to elevate him.

Only as they slacken did Weiss come to her senses.

She took in the sight of his battered form. It was blacken with dust and soot. His clothes lost most of it's fabric away from his center body, indicating where she could only suppose, his Aura prioritized. Aside from various cuts, bruises and burns, he was living. _Somehow_ , he was still alive, even after many close encounters from splash damage.

The amount of Aura for that feat was unlike any person of her age. Perhaps, she too could repeat the feat if she could conjure her "spells" quick enough and not lose focus—otherwise, _highly u_ _nlikely_ , if not near impossible. She wasn't that cocky that she would say she could. However, by now, his Aura should've been depleted _ten times_ over...

Scrambling, she removed herself from the ground, before doing another check of his body. Based on his unconscious groans and grunts throughout the assessment, a good amount of ribs broke, perhaps with internal bleeding, various dislocations and aura exhaustion, which didn't come as a surprise. His spine was astonishingly _intact_. And thank the Gods, he had all of his body intact.

"Miss Schnee!" Various people surrounded them, but she gave them no attention.

...Death wasn't a foreign entity to her. Various times her family company was attacked, sometimes even her family itself. However, they, whomever was near, would drag her away, as she was only but a little or "useless" girl. She's seen the dead bodies, human, faunas, or _bits and pieces_. However, she knew she was safe and thus, could brush off every encounter, as the protection only grew stronger. After all, they learned from their mistakes. She, in turn, vowed for revenge, warranting her quest on becoming a Huntress—on becoming strong.

There was no safe environment. This was the closest brush with death. That fact wasn't what made her fear, as she would have to become used to it with her mission on becoming a Huntress. It was the fact that a person, who she hardly knew, had jumped to her rescue. It hurt her pride, as she couldn't properly react in the situation. She may have had second-thoughts of his attitude, sure, but, watching him break, then fall, _break_ , repeatedly was... a sick, horrid, nightmarish joke. Humans—or Faunas—don't bounce like that. She could stand to see the end result but story from beginning to the said result was a whole different thing, in real-time.

She said what she first said when faced with death: "I— _I'm so,_ _so_ _sorry_." She dreamed of the scenario over and over and over, bringing back forgotten demons, succumbing to her forgotten injuries. "I'm sorry..."

"— _Oof!_ "  
"S- _Sorry! I was lost and..._ "

* * *

Alexander Arc, father to many children, nodded, "...Ironwood." The man looked to the third person, and added with a thought, "Schnee."

"Arc."

"Alexander, your son..." The fellow father dragged off, not quite sure how to set up his next words.

"My son?" The veteran Hunter tilted his head in genuine confusion. "Is something the matter?"

The Schnee Head started to open his mouth but Ironwood interjected, "I have your son under life support after a terrorist attack." As blunt as ever, he set everything out. "The boy just so happened to save Schnee's daughter."

Alexander had known of the terrorist attack the day before, but he trusted it was taken control of, as Atlas wasn't in his domain. However, he didn't predict that his son was a part of it, as he said he was going out to eat, before they left. He to visit old friends before meeting up with some of the most influential people in Altas. He trusted his son to fend for himself, and not look for trouble...

The father opened his mouth, only to close it, before pinching the bridge of his nose with an emotion that wasn't quite frustration. "...He always hoped to be a hero." He slid into a chair. "Will he make it?"

The stoic General took a seating also, "It seems likely, but if he does, he won't be the same." He stopped to let the man absorb the information. "If you'll allow us, we can change that by replacing his heart with a cylinder dust replacement." Alexander just looked at him. "We don't have a replacement. Do you, want to see him?"

"...Alright." The man looked haggard despite doing nothing of tremendous effort.

"I would like to thank your son, Ale—"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Jacques." He held up a hand to reinforce his point. "I don't mean to be rude, really. I just... I just want to see my son, ya' know?" He smiled weakly. "Besides, its not me you should thank."

"I understand." The man nodded, remembering how he acted when he heard his daughter's condition. "Should we reschedule?"

In turn, the Arc nodded, watching as they rose, before James Ironwood motioned towards the entrance. Then, they followed him into an elevator, where he conducted various tests, before they began moving.

There was silence.

"...Is your daughter alright, Jaquces?" Alexander offered an awkward smile. He hoped if his son did play hero, it wasn't for nothing.

The man nodded, "Your son tried protecting not just my daughter." There was a grim smile, "If... If it wasn't for him, the death rate would've been..." He didn't finish the sentence.

Ironwood glanced towards them, "Many owe him their lives. The causality rate was still high—many lost fingers, arms, legs—but alive nonetheless." He flexed his mechanical fingers. "Nothing that can't be replaced."

The elevator stopped, as the door begun opening.

"Your son."

In the center of the chilling room, a metal cylinder sat slanted, connected to various other medical equipment. Through the glass of the cylinder confinement, Alexander could see the peaceful expression of his son. At their distance, slight beeps resounded as two doctors turned to them, not quite expressionless.

"This bad?" the man asked, as his hands reached out to the glass.

"...Jaquces' daughter was with the boy—as in, took the brunt." Ironwood then gestured to the devices, before the doctors tapped various buttons to open the cylinder pod.

"I tried everything I could before I called Ironwood." Jaquces added, still feeling sorry for involving the boy in his family's troubles.

There, nude, his son laid, red, purple and black in various places.

"His aura..." the father almost gasped, "where is _it_?"

Ironwood was lost for words also, not because he hadn't realize, but because he didn't quite know either. "...We're not sure either, but we think it has to do something with his heart."

Dread filled Alex.

"It's not working. And to replace it, we need the consent of a guardian... _if_ we had any to replace his, that is."

He stared at his son, as whatnot devices pumped his blood. He wanted to say, 'take his,' 'find one,' 'I'll get another one.' He wanted to hug, reprimand, tell his son he was proud of him. He didn't want this potential to be wasted. His son was supposed to revolutionize the world, which brought on his next train of thought, as he and his wife had disagreed often on such a subject.

"Arthuria?" He whispered aloud.

"Doesn't know yet." Ironwood nodded, closing the cylinder pod with another press of a button.

"Then, what do you plan to do?" The only thing the father of eight could foretell was his son would be required to carry a device to act his heart, unable to excite it or himself. Everything his son had done would've been for nothing. He couldn't be a hero. He couldn't even do anything of massive effort, lest incur the potential to die. It would crush his son's soul, but he would be living.

"There are two choices." The two father's blinked, surprised at Ironwood's words. "Confide him into carrying a pump, or we of Altas take chances to create an artificial heart."

There was a quiet. So much so, it was almost possible to hear the gears turning in Alex's head.

He started slowly, "this... 'artificial heart,' it's repercussions?"

"If it doesn't work, we could always give him the pump, unless something goes totally haywire, which I can promise shouldn't happen under my watch." Another press of a button, a 3d display of a cylinder device appeared, turning ever-so slowly. "Otherwise, it should allow him to function normally."

"This works, how?" If it worked as Alexander thought it did, then... couldn't Jaunes' Semblance power it? ...However, that is if replacing the heart, jump-started Jaune's aura.

He could only hope as Ironwood informed him.

In return, he informed Ironwood of Jaune's Semblance, before the doctors/scientists' eyes glinted with fervor.

* * *

...

"I _think_ I got into a freak accident," he groaned with sarcasm—soreness filled the arms that struggle to lift him and the back that bent. He couldn't quite remember how true his words were.

"Jaune?"  
"Son?"

"Mom, Dad?" His blue eyes battled the whiteness, blinking.

"We're here," it was his mom's voice again as the familiar feeling of her reassuring hands held his right one.

He was still a bit dazed as he squeezed her hand. "I didn't do it?" He wasn't sure if he was questioning himself or not. Many times he's hurt himself during his various exercises and practices. Although, not the level of what he was remembering.

"Oh Jaune," his mom squeezed back, smiling brightly, "you're a hero."

Jaune froze, looking at her, before frowning, "This isn't a dream, is it?"

Alexander laughed, "That's my boy!" He rubbed his wife's arms, "See, he's fine."

"—Just sore," his boy added, sorely.

Jaune watched his father leave, saying something about food and _stuffs_ and his mom filled him in on what had happened.

...

He frowned, "If only I had instead—"

"Jaune." His mom interjected so suddenly, with a tone so grave, he flinched before gulping to himself. "You saved people. I know what you may be thinking, if 'that,' than 'this' would've have happened." She paused and watched him nod. "Jaune, you're young, _horribly so_. Too young to make a call like this. Too young to react in any way. Nonetheless, you _did_ , Jaune. You may not have saved everyone, but you saved more than what _anyone_ expected. —I'm proud to call you my son." She gathered him into her arms for a hug. "We almost lost you, ya' know?"

Around his mom, his arm's tightened, "... _W-Weiss_?" he asked in his mother's bosom.

She tightened her own, placing her chin atop Jaune's head. "She's fine, thanks to you."

...It was then that he let the sobs break through his quivering lips.

* * *

 **Aesix** : _Cheerio!_  
The challenge was to write a one-shot (up-for-adoption kind) for a fandom you've read but lacked much actual canonical background ...At least, that's how the story began (months ago), before I decided to watch the show (anime?). And, I, surprisingly, found myself hooked. So, I plan to continue!

I know for sure I can't recreate any kind of humor for my life so there's that.  
Oh, and of course not, Jaune's not going to be just another Tony Stark—for one thing, all I know about Stark is mostly from the movies (6 of them). I mean, yeah, he'll have a suit and now he has that chest thingy, but that, to all my knowledge, should be it... besides, you know, being human?  
And no, he isn't a "genius" (unless you count almost perfect memory?). Its just there to shine light as to how he sees himself, thus far. I'll still try to keep him as he is canonically.

And, with the subtly of a train wreck, _holi_ _fuck_ , _**she**_ **died** —completely and utterly mind-blown, and heartbroken ( _late_ , I know).

Pairing: _No idea_.  
You'd think it'll be Jaune x Weiss based on what this intro contained. Or Jaune x Pyrrha (temporarily?) based on what I said earlier. Perhaps, Jaune x Harem due to my usual writings — or because I hate choosing when they all seem great.

Have a nice day!

Edit: ...Sorta?

[Words: 3,500]

* * *

Random: ...Originally, I wanted to do a spider-man ver, but I decided not to, even though I _love_ Spider-man.


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